Common Sports Betting Mistakes

In the previous article in this beginner's guide we provided
a few tips about what you can do to improve your chances of
success when betting on sports. You can find the article here if
you haven't read it yet. Successful sports betting isn't all
about what you should do though, it's also about what you
shouldn't do.

All bettors make mistakes at some point, even experienced
ones. With real money on the line, these mistakes can be costly.
However, they can also help you to develop your betting skills.
You just need to accept when you've made a mistake and try to
learn from it. Of course, you still want to make as few mistakes
as possible.

To help you with this, on this page we have listed some of
the most common betting mistakes that people make. We've also
provided some advice on how to make sure you avoid making them.

Betting Too Often

This is one of the biggest mistakes that beginners and
recreational bettors make. It's an easy one to make too, because
there's so much you can bet on. Most betting sites offer
markets on a huge range of sporting events, with plenty of
different betting options, so it can be really tempting to place
lots of wagers.

Bookmakers don't like arbers because they represent bad business for them.
An arber will always lose a certain percentage of his bets with a bookmaker,
because of betting on all the possible outcomes, but should make an overall
profit in the long run. The bookmakers are aware of this, and they don't want
long term winners as customers. If they suspect a customer of arbing they will
limit their account or even close it in order to protect their own profit margins.

If you're just betting for fun, this isn't necessarily a
major problem providing you're sticking to an overall budget.
However, if your goal is to consistently make money, then it's
rarely a good idea to regularly make a large number of bets. A
much better approach is to place just a few well thought out
wagers, where you have identified value and good reasons to bet.

Letting Your Heart Rule Your Head

This is another mistake that's particularly common among
recreational bettors. It's all too easy to bet on what you want
to happen, rather than what you genuinely think will happen. A
lot of bettors lose money by always betting on their favorite
teams or players, without really thinking about whether it's
the right thing to do.

If you are serious about your sports betting, then you really
need to try and take the emotion out of it. There's no room for
sentiment, and you have to try and be objective. This isn't to
say that you should never bet on something that you want to
happen, but you do need to be absolutely sure that you're
betting for the right reasons.

Chasing Losses

This is possibly one of the most damaging mistakes you can
make in not only sports betting, but in any form of gambling.
It's also one of the most common mistakes made. Chasing losses
has been the downfall of many a gambler, and unfortunately it's
all too easy to do.

One of the hardest things to do when gambling is to remain in
control. A run of bad luck can be very frustrating, particularly
if you're not really doing anything wrong, and it's tempting to
assume that your luck must turn at some point. It usually does,
but there's no way of knowing when that turnaround will happen.

This is precisely why you should never chase your losses. If
you keep increasing your stakes and your bad run continues, you
might just run out of money before you start getting the wins
you need. It's important to stay disciplined and keep your
stakes at a sensible level. This way you allow yourself time to
turn the run around.

This is a practice known as bankroll management, and it's a
skill you absolutely have to master if you are going to be a
successful bettor. Here you can find more information and advice on
managing your bankroll.

Blaming Bad Luck

We've just mentioned bad runs above, and the fact is you'll
almost certainly have them from time to time. Even the most
successful bettors in the world go through periods where they
can't seem to pick a winner, so you don't necessarily have to
worry too much if results don't go your way for a while. Luck
does play a part in sports betting, and there will be times when
it just isn't on your side.

However, losing runs aren't always due to bad luck. It may
be that you aren't making the right decisions, so it's
important to always look at the reasons why your bets are
losing. With a bit of analysis you'll quite possibly be able
to correct where you're going wrong, but only if you are honest
with yourself and don't just automatically blame bad luck every
time you lose.

Being Greedy

Greed can manifest itself in several ways when it comes to
sports betting, and it can cause all kinds of problems. Betting
too much money, rather than sticking to a staking plan and
practicing good bankroll management, is a common result of
greed, and this invariably leads to going bust. The same could
be said of regularly betting at high odds, and placing parlays
or accumulators with lots of selections.

There's nothing wrong with going after a big win in the
right circumstances, you just need to make sure that you take
measured risks and are not reckless. It's fine to occasionally
place a wager at higher stakes than usual if you genuinely
believe you have a really good chance of winning. Equally, it's
fine to place a speculative wager at high odds if you believe it
represents good value.

The point is really that you shouldn't be in a rush to make
as much money as you can, as quickly as you can. If you are
driven by greed, and make decisions based solely on the
potential returns you can make, then you'll almost certainly
lose in the long run. The most successful sports bettors take a
slow and steady approach, aiming to gradually increase their
bankroll over time.

Being Lazy

Being lazy can be just as harmful to your chances of success
as being greedy. It takes time and effort to make money out of
sports betting, and if you're not prepared to put the work in,
then you can't expect to be a winning bettor.

This doesn't mean you should spend hours and hours on every
single wager you place. Sometimes you'll be able to find decent
opportunities without a great deal of work, and sometimes your
instinct will be enough. The only way you're going to
consistently identify good opportunities, though, is by studying
the betting markets and carrying out research when necessary.

Betting On Sports You Don't Understand

You don't need to be an expert on every sport you bet on, but
you should have at least some knowledge about how the sport
works. If you don't really understand a sport, then you are very
unlikely to make money from betting on it.

This is a similar mistake to betting too often, and our
advice for avoiding it is basically the same. You should only
ever make wagers when you have a good a reason to. It's very
difficult to justify a bet on a sport that you don't know much
about, because you don't have the necessary knowledge to make an
informed judgment.

Betting Under The Influence

This might seem obvious, but it's worth mentioning anyway.
Your judgment is impaired when you are under the influence, and
so chances are you're going to make some bad decisions. It's very easy to blow through your entire bankroll in a drunken
evening, so it's best simply to never bet when you are drinking.

If you can avoid all the mistakes we have discussed here, then
you'll have a good chance of becoming a successful bettor.
Remember not to get too disheartened when you do make mistakes
though. Just learn from them, and try not to make the same
mistake twice.